"Lord Minato, Lady Tsunade, Princess Ayaka! We welcome you all to the Redaku branch of our corporation."
The branch manager welcomes them with a warm smile.
"I am Hoshi, an investor of Redaku and the co-partner of Trinity corporation." The manager introduces himself.
He points towards a rough-looking man who is tagging along with him.
"This is Kei, the security chief of Trinity corporation and a close friend of mine." Hoshi introduces the security chief to them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Kei bows in respect.
"There is no need for such formalities. We aren't someone that great." Minato shakes his head.
"Lord Minato, you may not know it, but your legends are spread wide across the Land of Redaku. Multiple people worship you as their idol." Kei reveals the popularity of Minato.
"Hnn… Minato, you are quite popular even in a foreign land. You might have many suitors here." Tsunade teases him.
"The same goes for you too, Lady Tsunade. Your popularity is even higher than Lord Minato." Hoshi has a wry smile on his face.
"Looks like I am not the only popular one." Minato chuckles.
"All of you, please enjoy your stay at our resort." Hoshi gestures to the nearby servants.
"That might not be possible!" Minato shakes his head.
"We were on our way to the Land of Iron for the Kage Summit. But midway, we were stuck by a thunderstorm and lost our direction. Somehow, we ended up here. We separated from our group to enter Redaku to ask for directions since only someone with Sage Arts can cross the barrier. Our group is still waiting for us outside the barrier." Minato explains the circumstances to them.
"That won't be a problem, Lord Minato. There are still five days before the start of the Kage Summit. That's plenty of time. After three days, we will escort your group to the Land of Iron with our fastest ship. So, please give us the honor of hosting you." Hoshi requests with sincere eyes.
"Well…" Sensing the sincerity in Hoshi's eyes, Tsunade and Minato are unable to refuse him.
"But what about our group?" Ayaka asks him.
"That won't be a problem! Our ships are made of special materials which allow them to pass through the barrier." Kei assures them.
"Then please escort the rest of them to this place." Minato requests them.
"We both will leave with you." Naruto and Sasuke propose.
"Very well!"
Soon, the duo reaches the harbor with the military squad of the Trinity corporation and departs to fetch the rest of the Konoha group.
Back at the resort,
Hoshi, the manager, leads Tsunade, Minato, and Ayaka around the place.
"So, wonderful!" Ayaka's eyes shine in excitement. She takes out her camera and snaps a picture of her surroundings.
"We also have an underground sea aquarium. I am sure you will like that, little princess." Hoshi has a kind smile on his face.
Minato and Tsunade are also amazed by the level of advancement of this place.
'Konoha is truly a village compared to this luxurious city.' Such thoughts run across their mind.
"This place… how did you create it?" Tsunade couldn't hold back her curiosity.
"It's the hard work of the people of Redaku. Unlike the shinobi world, the people of Redaku are unable to use chakra. So, we have to rely on maximizing the efficiency of our workforce and limited resources. As such, through the efforts of many generations, we, the people of Redaku, advanced our technology to an extent to achieve something like this." Hoshi has a prideful expression on his face.
"It's the blood and sweat of multiple generations bearing fruit in such a way."
"Indeed!" Tsunade and Minato nod at his remarks.
Achieving something like this without the aid of chakra is truly a miraculous thing for them.
'Perhaps the shinobi world might have advanced even further if we as its residents weren't bound by our petty greed and raised unnecessary disputes over resources.' Minato shakes his head.
'But it's the inherent nature of humans. The people of Redaku were lucky in the aspect that they had no competitors in this land. Their only enemies lie the sea. Since it was a matter of survival; they could only put aside their petty differences to seek a solution.'
"Now I am curious to know, how did Izuna make a mark on these people's hearts? What's the story behind his visit?" Tsunade curiously turns to Hoshi and Kei.
Even Minato and Ayaka perk up their ears.
"Hmm… if I have to recall the day of our first meeting with Lord Izuna. Then, it was five years ago."
Hoshi begins to narrate the incident.
*****Flashback-no-Jutsu****
In the Polar Sea,
Swoosh…
A gigantic eagle is flying across the skies. A cloaked figure is sitting atop the eagle's back.
"Damn that useless Sage of Six Paths geezer! He didn't even tell me how he dealt with his chakra problem? After fumbling through multiple records on Mount Myoboku, I was finally able to uncover some clues."
Izuna takes out an old dusted book and a map from his storage.
"That old toad geezer will spout nonsense unnecessarily, but when I ask him for a solution to any problem; he will turn into a mute. My prophecies are like oracles, he says. Damn him, my life is on the line here." Izuna grits his teeth.
"Although I have an incomplete chakra fruit in my possession. It's nothing more than a globule of pure nature energy. It's still missing the intrinsic quality of a chakra fruit. Hence, it can only help me replenish my lost vitality." He shakes his head and stores the plump red fruit back in his storage.
Izuna focuses his attention on the old book. He wipes some dust from it and glances at its cover.
"According to the old geezer, he has no recollection of this book's contents. Apparently, this book was written by the first Toad Sage of the Mount Myoboku."
Izuna opens the book and starts reading its contents.
[This is an era of calamities and disasters. Gigantic monsters cover the sky and the earth. The ground would tremble from their footsteps and the sky will split apart from their breath. A swing of their mighty tail will sunder the oceans. They eat the mountains and drink the sea….]
The first few pages continue to describe the appearance and the habitats of the so-called powerful monsters.
"Aren't they just the dinosaurs?" After reading the first pew pages in detail, Izuna concludes.
"So, this world too was ruled by the dinosaurs. I wonder if they still exist in this world. Back in my previous world, their fate was sealed by a gigantic meteor from the sky."
Izuna continues to read the description of various types of monsters.
"Hmm… so there were Pterosaurs, Ornithopods, Pachycephalosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Titanosaurs. There might be other species of dinosaurs too, but they aren't recorded in this book. If dinosaurs still exist in this world, then I would like to have one as a pet."
Izuna chuckles slightly before flipping to another page.
[Then, the end of the world arrived. The sky was burning, and the lands were turning. After an unknown period, the burning ball of fire in the sky disappeared. Slowly, everything turned cold. There was no longer any food available to eat, and I too lost consciousness.]
Hmm…
"So, no matter the world, the dinosaurs will always suffer the wraith of the rock. Somehow, I feel bad about them."
Izuna flips to another page.
[After an unknown period, I slowly opened my eyes. The giant ball of flame was still burning in the sky. There were no longer any gigantic monsters on the land. Soon, many new animals appeared around me.
In this new and unknown world, I made new friends and roamed the world with them…]
"What's this? Excuse me? What's the average lifespan of a frog again? Even if I don't have a definitive answer, I don't think it's that long. This frog must be the Pepe Chad of this world. He fricking survived an apocalypse that wiped the dinosaurs, stayed frozen through the entire ice age, and woke up and walked away like nothing truly happened."
Izuna recalls the frail expression of Baa and Paa.
'Looks like it's the frogs that degraded the most over these years.'
Izuna flips to another page. He continues to flip more pages for a while.
"There is nothing noteworthy, except the daily life of an adventurer frog. This Pepe Chad ancestor is the protagonist and I am this book's sole reader."
[Then one day, another apocalypse arrived. A gigantic ball of flames similar to the one that wiped those monsters descended from the sky…]
"Now, that sounds interesting!" Izuna is immersed in the story.
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A/N:- My new Naruto fan-fic, 'The Rogue Demon of the Shinobi World' is out.
Also, check out my pat reon www.pa treon.com/ForgottenLife to support my work and get a sneak peak at the latest chapters of both series in advance. Read upto 60+ chapters from both series combined in advance.